The NDA Government in the Centre is pushing the Uttar Pradesh Government to rename a railway station near Mathura after Jan Sangh icon Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya. However, with Assembly polls likely to be held next year, it has met with little success till now.

As per ‘The Indian Express’ that the Samajwadi Party Government has put the proposal to rename Farah Town station as Deendayal Dham on hold. Currently, the station is named after a small town near Mathura which traces its origins to the Mughal era and has a mention in the 1857 uprising, according to historians. The government want to rename the station as it is close to Upadhyaya’s ancestral village, Nagla Chandrabha where he was born in 1916, the report further quoted an official as saying.

In September, the BJP started a year-long birthday centenary celebration in memory of Upadhyaya. Last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the village to mark the first anniversary of the NDA government after the house in which Upadhyaya stayed was renovated. The centre has also undertaken a few projects to revive the legacy of Upadhyaya, who passed away in 1968.

Under the guidelines for renaming villages, railway stations, towns and cities, the Home Ministry gives clearance to proposals received from state governments. However, in this case, the Ministry wrote to UP chief secretary Rahul Bhatnagar, on the proposal and sent its recommendation to the state government based on a memorandum submitted by the Deendayal Upadhyaya Samiti, based in Mathura.

Naveen Mittal, a general secretary of the Samiti told the paper that he had met Home Minister Rajnath Singh after which the manifesto to rename Farah Town was sent by the Ministry to the UP government. Mittal added that the Samiti will also meet BJP MPs, Hema Malini from Mathura and Union Minister of State (HRD) Ram Shankar Katheria from Agra, to put pressure on the UP government.